Cabinet drawer suspension



Nov. 15, 1960 Filed Oct. 14, 1957 R. L. MYERS CABINET DRAWER SUSPENSION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Raymond L. mgers ATTORNEY Nov. 15, 1960 R. I... MYERS CABINET DRAWER susmznsxou Filed Oct. 14, I957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. mqers Raqmond L.

ATTORNEY United States Patent CABINET DRAWER SUSPENSION Raymond L. Myers, Vestal, N.Y., assignor to Ray Myers Corporation, Endicott, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 14, 1957, Ser. No. 689,861

3 Claims. (Cl. 312-339) This invention relates to filing cabinets, and more particularly to a suspension for a movable cabinet drawer.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a cabinet with a drawer suspension arm which comprises three sets of paired rails or slides, one set being mounted on the inner cabinet wall, another removably carrying the drawer, and a third between the others, which sets are so arranged that the drawer may be fully supported in a position entirely outside of the cabinet and may be freely and easily moved between open and closed positions.

Another object is to provide drawer suspension slides which are fully supported by sets of balls against both vertical and lateral thrusts.

Another object is to provide retainers which carry the balls in such separated relationship that the slides are maintained in their assembled relationship and provide for ready movability and adequate support for the drawer in all positions. Other objects will be apparent in the following disclosure.

Referring to the drawings illustrating one embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective somewhat diagrammatic view of a cabinet, partly broken away, showing a group of drawers mounted therein with one in an outward position;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of one of the suspension arms, partly broken away, to show interior constructions;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the assembled slides showing, broken away, a drawer mounted on an inner slide and an outer slide in a supporting relationship to a cabinet wall with a central slide there;

Fig. 4 is a detail showing a ball bearing retainer with the balls disassembled;

Fig. 5 is an isometric view of the inner drawer supporting arm of the suspension;

Fig. 6 is an isometric view of the intermediate slide; and

Fig. 7 is an isometric view of the outer suspension slide which is mounted on the cabinet wall, the members of Figs. 5, 6 and 7 being shown in an exploded relationship ready for assembly.

Although the drawer suspension is applicable to various types of cabinet, it is shown in Fig. 1 as utilized in a card filing cabinet. The cabinet comprises the usual walls forming a hollow cabinet 10 within which drawers 11 are movably mounted on the suspension slides of this invention, which are suitably mounted on the inner cabinet walls. Each drawer may be of suitable construction for mounting on the suspension, but it is shown in Fig. 3 as provided with a U-shaped flanged portion 12 adapted to be removably mounted on the horizontal flange 13 of the plate 14 constituting the inner slide member of the suspension. An outer arm 15 (Fig. 2) is adapted to be fixed but removably mounted on an inner wall of the cabinet. For this purpose, the outer S-shaped member 15 has a lug 16 (Figs. 2 and 7) formed from metal cut out of the plate from which the member 15 is made and arranged to project rearwardly, as shown. That member 16 is adapted to be suitably slid inwardly and interlocked with a suitable projecting lug 17 struck out from the inner wall of the cabinet. At the front of this outer slide member 15 are two downwardly facing lugs 19 which are shaped to be thrust downwardly into position relative to an upstanding lug 20 on the cabinet wall. These parts are so made that this outer slide 15 may be removably mounted on the wall and will remain in place for any positions of the drawer carried by that arm.

The slide members 14 and 15 are separated by an intermediate S-shaped suspension slide member 25, and the parts are so constructed that they are separated and supported by sets of balls 26 mounted in openings 27 in retainers 28 (Fig. 4). There are four sets of balls for each of the suspension slides on the opposite sides of each drawer, and these are so arranged that the inner S-shaped member 25 is spaced between the outer drawer supporting member 14 and the wall carried member 15 by the sets of balls. The upper and lower sets of balls carry the drawer weight and the intermediate sets resist lateral thrust.

The wall member 15, which is carried by the cabinet wall, as best shown in Fig. 7, comprises a vertical plate 30 having an inturned horizontal flange 31 at its bottom. This plate 15 has a step-shaped construction comprising the horizontal step 32, a vertical wall portion 33, another horizontal step 34 and a vertical wall portion 35. The step 34 provides an upper runway on its top face which carries the drawer weight. The intermediate slide member 25, as shown in Fig. 6, comprises two vertical walls 40 and 41 connected by a horizontal portion 42, the latter providing a runway on its upper face. The lower wall 41 has an inturned horizontal flange 43 providing a runway on its upper face. The flange terminates in an upstanding vertical plate 44 which is parallel with and spaced from the plate portion 41. Likewise, the upper vertical plate portion 40 connects with a horizontal top portion 46 terminating in a downwardly depending flange 47. The vertical walls 40 and 41 are at the rear of spaces opening towards the wall and drawer slides 15 and 14 respectively. These parts of the intermediate slide are thus arranged to form two spaces within which the four sets of ball bearings are mounted, as shown in Fig. 3. The inner drawer carrying plate 14 (Fig. 5) has a vertical wall portion 50 provided at its top with an inwardly extending horizontal flange 51. The lower portion of the plate 50 is provided with a series of steps formed of the horizontal parts 52 and 53 connected by a vertical portion 54. A downwardly depending vertical flange 55 forms the lower portion of the wall. The part 53 provides a runway on its under side for the weight carrying set of balls.

These slide members of Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are of such dimensions that they may be assembled with the ball bearings in the relationship best indicated in Fig. 3, wherein the upper step shaped portion of the wall supported member 15 is interfitted into the upper downwardly opening U-shaped channel portion formed by the spaced walls 40 and 47 (Fig. 6) of the middle slide. Likewise, the lower stepped portion of the inner drawer carrying member (Fig. 5) is mounted in the lower upwardly opening U-shaped channel of the middle slide 25 (Fig. 6) which is formed by the parallel walls 41 and 44- connected by the bottom wall 43.

It will be noted, by reference to Fig. 3, that the drawer carrying slide 14 has its vertical wall 54 spaced from the vertical wall 41 of the intermediate slide by the wid 3 of a ball, so that these two vertical walls and the associated balls transmit lateral thrust from the drawer to the middle slide. Similarly, the cabinet wall slide 15 has its vertical portion 33 spaced by the diameter of a ball from the vertical wall 40 of the intermediate slide, so that these two vertical walls and their associated set of balls serve solely to transmit the lateral thrust from the intermediate slide to the cabinet wall. Hence, the two intermediate sets of balls (Fig. 3) take the lateral thrust. The upper and lower sets of balls carry the weight of the drawer. This weight is transmitted first from the drawer slide to the lowermost set of balls between the underside of the horizontal part 53 and the upper side of the lowermost wall 43 of the intermediate slide. From the latter, the weight goes to the uppermost set of balls which are mounted between an under runway on the under side of the horizontal part 46 of the middle slide and the top of. the runway 34 on the wall slide 15. These two sets of balls, therefore, provide the sole support for the adjacent side of the drawer.

These various parts are spaced by means of four sets of balls 26 in their retainer plates 28. Each of the retainer plates 28 is arranged at a 45 angle relative to the sides and bottoms of the various channel spaces formed by the assembled slide parts, as is best shown in Fig. 3. The plate may, if desired, be horizontal. The ball opening 27 may be slightly small so that the plate is supported by the balls, or the plate may rest on the slide walls. There are at least two balls or rollers of suitable type in each retainer, one ball being located near each end of the retainer (Fig. 4).

The uppermost set of balls 60 in their guide plate or retainer 61 are shown as so mounted that the retainer is tilted to a 45 position between the upper corner 62 of the downwardly depending channel of the S-shaped slide member 25 and the lower corner 64 of the wall supported arm 15, as shown in Fig. 3-. This upper set of balls has a bearing contact with the under side of the horizontal part 46 (Fig. 6) of the S-member and the step portion 34 (Fig. 7) of the outer member 15 and thus transmits the drawer weight to the cabinet wall, as above stated. The next lower set of balls 66 carried in their retainers 67 resist the lateral thrust by engaging the vertical wall portions 33 (Fig. 7) of slide 15 and wall 40 (Fig. 6) of the intermediate S-shaped member 25 as they ride on the lower horizontal part 42 of member 25. Similarly, the third set of balls 68 in their retainers ride in the space between the vertical wall portion 54 (Fig. 5) of plate 14 and wall 41 (Fig. 6) of the S-plate 25 as well as on the bottom surface 53 of the inner plate 1 4 and so resist lateral thrust between these members. The lowermost set of balls likewise engages the under side of the horizontal shelf portion 53 (Fig. 5) and rides on the bottom wall 43 of the channel of the central S-shaped member (Fig. 6). This lower set of ball bearings thus transmits the drawer weight from member 14 to member 25, and the upper ball bearings 60 transmit the weight thrust to the outer plate 15 and the cabinet wall. Thus, the drawer is fully supported vertically by the upper and lower sets of balls, and any lateral thrust on the suspension arms is transmitted directly to the cabinet wall by the two middle sets of balls. Whatever the direction of the force used by the file cabinet operator, the ball bearings of the drawer suspension directly resist that force.

The ball bearing retainers 28 are movable longitudinally and are held in place by a set of suitably located stops formed as inturned flanges on the associated arms. The upper stop 70 for the top set of bearings is formed by inturning a portion of the upstanding wall 35 of The p 71 (Fig. 7) is formed by an inturned flange on the vertical wall 33. The stop 72 is formed by the inturned lug on the vertical wall 41 (Fig. 6) of the inner S-shaped slide member. Likewise, the stop 73 is an upturned lug on the bottom wall 43 of the lower channel of member 25. Similar stops 74, 75, 76 and 77 (Figs. 5 and 6) engage the left hand ends of the slidable ball retainer members 28. It will be observed by reference to the dotted line positions of the retainers in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 that these retainer members 28 are about half as long as the space between the stops, so that adequate room is given for movement of these retainers as the drawer is rolled in and out.

The three slide members are also provided with stops which limit their movements so that the drawer can be moved from a closed position to an outermost position in which the inner suspension slide 14, which carries the drawer, will protrude well past the front part of the cabinet, so that the drawer may be located wholly outside of the cabinet when in its most forward position. Thus, the drawer may be easily assembled or removed without interference from the slide members. These stops comprise the depending flanges 80 and 81 (Fig. 5) formed by cutting and bending the horizontal flange portion 51. The stop 81 may have a rubber button 82 suitably mounted in a hole therein so as to serve as a buffer against noisy impact. An upstanding lug 83 may be suitably welded to the top horizontal portion 46 of the S-shaped plate 25. This limits the movement of the drawer supporting member '14 by engagement of its stops 80 and 81 against opposite sides of the lug 83 on the intermediate plate 25. Similarly, a depending lug 85 (Figs. 2. and 6) carried by the under side of the central S-shaped member 25 may ride between limits provided by the upstanding stops 86 and 87 (Figs. 2 and 7) on the outer wall supported stationary member 15. Thus, the drawer carrying arm 14 may be pulled to its outermost position as determined by the upstanding stop 83, engaging stop 81 (Fig. 2), and the intermediate S-shaped slide plate 25 may also move outwardly until its lug 85 engages the front stop 87 of the outer wall member 15. Each of the slide stopping lugs may have rubber buttons or other media to form buffers or cushions against shock.

This drawer suspension as above described, comprises, in duplicate, a cabinet wall slide removably fixed on the inner framework or wall of a suitable cabinet structure and a second slide which has the drawer removably secured thereon in a relatively fixed arrangement. Between these two outer slides is an intermediate slide and four sets of ball or equivalent roller bearings assembled therein. The intermediate slide has two walls providing horizontal runways, each being arranged in vertical opposition to a separate wall providing a horizontal runway on one of the outer slides, which are arranged to carry the weight thrust. Also, the intermediate slide has two vertical Walls, one forming a runway opposed to a wall runway on the drawer slide and the other opposed to a runway on the cabinet wall slide, which serve to transmit the lateral thrust from the drawer to the middle slide and thence to the cabinet. There are only four sets of balls and a retainer for each set having a ball near each end thereof. Two of the sets, shown as the upper and lower ones, serve solely to carry the drawer weight and the other two serve solely to transmit the lateral thrust. These four sets of balls in their retainers function independently, in that the weight carrying balls are not arranged to absorb the lateral thrust and the thrust bearings do not carry the weight. By having a ball located near each end of each retainer the thrust carried by the set is widely distributed. There is no ball on the intermediate slide which engages both the drawer slide and the cabinet wall slide and so would have to maintain bearing contact with each and thus require that the rear end of the upper slide never go as far as the front end of the supporting slide. In my construction, each set of ball bearings engages only two slides and each is movable independently within the limits provided by the locations of the stops. Thus it is possible to move the drawer outwardly beyond the outer face of the cabinet in order to provide access to the rearmost contents thereof. The term ball bearings as used herein is to be considered the equivalent of tapered and cylindrical roller bearings or other rotatable structures of like function. The ball bearings are widely spaced by their retainers so as to distribute the weight of the drawer for any position thereof. Also, the runway walls which resist lateral movement of the drawer are substantially vertical, in that they lie at such an angle relative to the direction of thrust as to oppose the same, depending on the type of bearing used.

The preferred structure, as shown, has an S-shaped intermediate slide providing two oppositely facing channels, and the two outside slides have laterally ofiset stepped portions so interfitted in the channels of the S-shaped slide as to form opposed horizontal runways to carry the weight and vertical runways to oppose the lateral thrust.

It will now be appreciated that this triple slide construction provides complete accessibility to cards or other material stored in the drawer and because of its being so mounted is such that the drawer may be withdrawn fully from within the cabinet. Also, any lateral thrust against the drawer, and particularly when it is in an extended position, is resisted by the two intermediate sets of balls so that the lateral thrust cannot rack the suspension. The retainers or the ball bearings are long enough to resist that lateral motion adequately. When the drawer is pulled or pushed out the balls roll freely on their associated surfaces and the retainer moves along with the ball to the end of its travel as limited by the retaining stops. The retainer, therefore, holds the balls in exact spaced relationships so that they carry the weight of the drawer properly for all positions thereof. Thus the cantilever suspension for the drawer is such that the balls engage upper surfaces of the supporting arms to resist the downward moment of the outer end of the drawer and the upward moment of the inner end of the intermediate S-shaped slide. The lugs 19 on the outer stationary arms 15 extend downwardly into interlocking relationship with upwardly extended lugs on the cabinet wall so that the weight of the drawer is always opposed by that fixed mount. Various advantages in this construction will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art.

It will also be understood that the drawings and the above description are to be interpreted as referring to a preferred embodiment of the invention and that various modifications may be made in constructional details without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a cabinet having spaced walls, a drawer therebetween, and a pair of suspension arms connecting the drawer to said walls for longitudinal movement relative thereto; the improvement wherein each of said suspension arms comprises an inner slide member removably connected to the drawer, an outer slide arm connected to one of said cabinet walls parallel to and laterally spaced from said inner slide member, and a unitary S-shaped slide member connected intermediate said inner slide member and said outer slide arm, said intermediate slide member having in cross-sectional configuration a central horizontal portion, a first vertical wall extending upwardly from one longitudinal edge of said central portion and terminating at its upper end in an upper horizontal portion extending back over said central horizontal portion and a vertical flange depending downwardly from the longitudinal edge of said upper horizontal portion, and a second vertical wall extending downwardly from the other longitudinal edge of said central horizontal portion and terminating at its lower end in a lower horizontal portion extending back under said central horizontal portion and a vertical flange extending upwardly from the longitudinal edge of said lower horizontal portion, said outer slide arm having in cross-sectional configuration an upper portion laterally extending between the central and upper horizontal portions of said S-shaped intermediate mentber and terminating in an upwardly-extending lower vertical wall, a horizontal portion connected at its longitudinal edge furthermost from the first vertical wall of said intermediate slide member to the upper end of said lower vertical wall, and an upper vertical wall extending upwardly from the other longitudinal edge of said horizontal portion, said inner slide member having in crosssectional configuration a lower portion laterally extending between the central and lower horizontal portions of said S-shaped intermediate member and terminating in a downwardly-extending upper vertical wall, a horizontal portion connected at its longitudinal edge furthermost from the second vertical wall of said intermediate slide member to said upper vertical wall, and a lower vertical wall extending downwardly from the other longitudinal edge of said horizontal portion, means for transmitting the vertical thrust of the drawer weight to the cabinet wall consisting solely of first roller means intermediate the horizontal portion of said outer slide arm and the upper horizontal portion of said S-shaped slide member and second roller means intermediate the horizontal portion of said inner slide member and the lower horizontal portion of said intermediate slide member, and means for transmitting the lateral thrust from the drawer to the cabinet wall consisting solely of third roller means intermediate the first vertical wall of said intermediate member and the lower vertical wall of said outer slide arm and fourth roller means intermediate the second vertical wall of said intermediate member and the upper vertical wall of said inner slide member, each of said roller means comprising an extended retainer plate having spaced apertures near its ends and balls rotatably mounted therein.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said retamer plates -are arranged diagonally between the opposed co-rners formed by the horizontal and vertical walls of the adjacent slide elements.

3. In a cabinet having spaced vertical walls, a drawer therebetween, and a pair of horizontal suspension arms connecting the drawer to said walls for longitudinal movement relative thereto; the improvement wherein each of said suspension arms comprises a horizontal inner slide connected to the drawer; an outer slide connected to one of said cabinet walls parallel to and laterally spaced from said inner slide; an intermediate slide arranged between said inner and outer slides and parallel thereto; means for transmitting the vertical thrust caused by the weight of the drawer to said cabinet walls comprising a first horizontal wall connected to said inner slide and extending toward said intermediate slide, a second horizontal wall connected to said intermediate slide and extending toward said inner slide below and spaced from said inner slide horizontal wall, a third horizontal wall connected to said intermediate slide and extending toward said outer slide, a fourth horizontal wall connected to said outer slide and extending toward said intermediate slide below said third horizontal wall, said four horizontal walls forming vertical thrust runways for two sets of roller means, first roller means intermediate and rolling solely on said first and second horizontal walls, and second roller means intermediate and rolling solely on said third and fourth horizontal walls, said first and second roller means and their associated runway walls constituting the sole vertical thrust support for the drawer; means for transmitting the lateral thrust from the drawer to the cabinet walls comprising a first vertical wall connected to said inner slide, a second vertical wall connected to said intermediate slide opposite said first vertical wall, a third vertical wall connected to said intermediate slide, a fourth vertical wall connected to said outer slide opposite said third vertical wall, said first, second, third, and fourth vertical walls extending parallel to the longitudinal axes of said slides and forming four lateral thrust runways for two sets of roller means, a third roller means intermediate said first and second vertical walls and fourth roller means intermediate and rolling solely on said third and fourth vertical walls, said third and fourth roller means and their associated vertical runway walls forming the sole lateral thrust support for the drawer; each of said four roller means consisting of a retainer plate having longitudinally spaced apertures at the ends thereof and ball bearings rotatably mounted in said'apertures, said retainer plates being freely movable longitudinally relative to said slides; said slides being of substantially the same length and, when aligned, having adjacent first ends and adjacent second ends, respectively, and stop means permitting longitudinal movement of said inner slide beyond said first end of said outer slide comprising a first transverse stop on said outer slide adjacent said first end thereof and a second transverse stop on said outer slide longitudinally spaced from said first stop by a distance at least equal to half the length of said outer slide, a third stop on said intermediate slide adjacent the said second end thereof and arranged intermediate said first and second transverse stops, a fourth transverse stop on said inner slide adjacent said second end thereof, a fifth transverse stop on said inner slide longitudinally spaced from said fourth stop by a distance at least equal to half the length of said inner slide, and a sixth stop on said intermediate slide adjacent said first end thereof, said sixth stop being positioned intermediate said fourth and fifth stops.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,109,812 Yawman Sept. 8, 1914 1,135,235 Weiss Apr. 13, 1915 1,566,307 Card Dec. 22, 1925 2,346,167 Jones Apr. 11, 1944 2,561,163 Wolters July 17, 1951 2,762,660 Bullock Sept. 11, 1956 2,794,690 Bullock June 4, 1957 

